


Love Nugget

by Tundra0Dragon



Category: Pikmin (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, I am a pioneer in barely charted territories, I think this is the first fic of this ship, M/M, olimar is best dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:42:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28601652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tundra0Dragon/pseuds/Tundra0Dragon
Summary: By all accounts, he shouldn’t love him. Not after the whole “stealing their food” thing.But... he did anyways.
Relationships: Alph/Louie (Pikmin)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	Love Nugget

**Author's Note:**

> I'm pretty sure this is the first fic for this rare pair. Certainly the first fic on this sight! 
> 
> I only know of a handful of doodles with these two. So... a very rare pair indeed.

The captain’s house wasn’t that big, but it was thankfully spacious enough for the five of them to exist comfortably together.  It kind of surprised Alph, in all honesty. He always figured Charlie to have a bigger home. He did live alone though, with only a duck and a dog for company, so it probably shouldn’t  have been such a shock to the engineer. But... it still was. 

Alph sat with his two crew mates at the kitchen table, exchanging stories with Captain  Olimar . He and Louie had come to  Koppai for a short three-day trip, hoping to catch up with the three explorers. His trip was simple; explore the  koppaite city nearby during the day, visiting museums and gift shops or whatever else struck his fancy. Then at night, he’d visit Charlie’s home where the other two crew members would be waiting as well. Thus, many of his stories were not just those of PNF-404 but also from his adventures in the city. 

After roughly an hour, Alph excused himself to get a drink of water. As he did, he looked over to the living room where Louie was sitting alone, messing around on his phone. Alph... couldn’t help but frown. While  Olimar had grown fond of the three of them, their relationship with Louie never seemed to improve much beyond “I suppose we can exist in the same room together.” He looked back to his friends, who seemed deep in a conversation regarding some weird thing  Olimar called a  breadbug .  _ It shouldn’t hurt if I go say hi to Louie... right? Poor guy seems lonely...  _ F illin g up a second glass of water, he decided to walk over to where Louie was. 

“H-Hi, Louie!” Alph managed out, a slightly  awkward smile on his face. 

Louie simply looked  up, his expression indiscernible. “Oh. Hey.” His voice was monotone, as usual. The lack of any sort of expression made Alph panic just a little, as he had no idea how Louie felt about this whole thing.

“May I... May I sit here?”

A shrug. “Sure.”

Alph sat down, putting the two glasses of water on the coffee table. “I got you some water, if you want some.”

Louie looked at the glass of water for a moment, before grabbing it to take a drink. “Thanks.”

Alph twiddled his thumbs for a moment. “So... ah, how’ve you been?”

“Good. You?”

“Good.”

Then  silence . 

Alph felt his chest tighten up a bit.  _ I am getting nowhere with him.  _

As one final attempt, he asked “What have you been up to? You make any new food  discoveries ?”

That seemed to finally grab Louie’s attention. “Oh yes! We discovered lots of new critters last time we were on PNF-404, and they make for just the finest dishes this side of the galaxy!” A small smile had appeared on his face, and his monotone speech had been replaced with excitement. “Thus far, the  Crushblat we found has been my favorite challenge. Not my favorite dish, that easily goes to the simple yet  _ delectable  _ Hairy  Bulborb , but I digress. The  Crushblat’s meat is tender, with these wonderful nutty undertones.” He was now making gestors with his hands, and Alph couldn’t help but smile a little. He was having trouble following, as Louie was talking a little fast, but he still sat and listened the best he could. “It’s very easy to overcook though, and overcooking it... let’s just say the meat becomes more suitable as a bouncy ball than food. Makes it a rather fun challenge, if you were to ask me.” He then sighed. “Just... don’t let  Olimar try to cook it. Or anything, for that matter.”

“Huh? You talking to me?”  Olimar asked as he looked over at the two. A confused look spread across his face when Louie shook his head, but he still went back to talking to the others.

Alph began to laugh a little. “Not... a good cook, huh?”

“No. He burnt salad once.  _ Salad _ . How do you do that?!?” 

Alph just kept giggling. “Talent, I suppose?”

“Yeah, talent.” Louie rolled his eyes. 

Once he calmed down from his sudden case of the giggles, Alph let out a sigh. “It’s almost a shame I can’t eat meat. You made that meal sound rather good.”

“... Ah yeah, you can only eat fruits. Such a bummer.” Louie sighed, voice slipping back into monotone. He then perked up suddenly, ears wiggling. “Oh! That reminds me-” He got into what looked like a lunch box and pulled out... some kind of small red blob. “ Olimar and I were arguing over if this was a fruit or if it’s a vegetable.  So I thought, if I can get a  koppaite to eat it then it’d solve this mystery!  So ah... would you like to try it and then tell me if it makes you sick or not?”

Alph raised an eyebrow before sighing and taking it. “I’m... allergic to a lot of foods.  So I may not be the best  canidaite for this little experiment of yours. 

“O-Oh, well you don’t need to try it if you don-” Louie was cut off by Alph promptly taking a bite out of the bright red food. “... well then.”

Alph made a face. “It’s... a little weird. Not in a bad way though.” 

“Has a weird kick to it.” Louie shrugged. “It is good though. I’ve found lots of uses for it. Salads, toppings, soup, sauce... very  versatile .” 

“ Mmm ... let’s hope it’s suitable for our palate then!” Alph laughed a little then took another bite. Once he  swallowed it, he asked. “ So what’s this thing called anyways?”

“The ship  named it a Love Nugget.”

Alph snorted. “A L _ ove Nugget _ ? Was the intention to give it to people you liked or somethin’?” 

Louie just shrugged. “I guess? Never looked into what that ship thought about it. I was more  interested in its  culinary uses.”

“Heh... well, if I was right, then I wouldn’t have minded getting one  ba -” Alph suddenly flushed up and took another bite to shut himself up.  _ Do not. Do  _ not  _ tell him that. _

Louie tilted his head. “Eh? What were you  saying? ”

Alph was quiet for a moment. “Just... I wouldn’t have minded.... getting one from you back then... t-that's all.” He felt his chest  tighten again. Oh, why couldn’t he just shut  _ up _ ?

“...explain? I’m... a little confused.” 

By this point, Alph was as red as the weird plant that was in his hand. “So... ah... f-funny story! I ah... back when we were at PNF-404, I actually uh.... liked  ya . A lot. And... I was trying to make a joke about it but! It didn’t land!” He laughed nervously. 

Louie stared at him for a moment before realization dawned on his face. “Wait - are you saying that you had a _crush_ -?” When Alph made a weird squeak noise in response, Louie just... laughed. “I? You...? I couldn’t even _keep_ a date, let alone _get_ one!”   
  
Alph frowned a bit, ears leaning back. Before he could say anything, he heard Olimar call out Louie’s name. 

“We’re heading back to the hotel for tonight, alright kid?”

Still calming down from his laughter, Louie just nodded and stood up. 

“We’ll see you guys tomorrow night!” Take care now!  Olimar waved them good bye. With that, both Alph and Britany took their leave. 

* * *

Alph sighed when he got home, worry eating away at him. He shut his apartment door and collapsed onto the couch.  _ Poor Louie... does he really think of himself like that? _ He pulled out his phone, mindlessly scrolling though it just to give his hands something to do. What could have ever happened to him to cause that? A frown now spread across his face. Alph himself was still fighting off that nagging voice. He just hoped it didn’t come about in Louie the same way...

Though he wasn’t sure how else you’d get that thought process. It seemed it always came from someone else. 

_ He doesn’t even think he’s loveable. Poor guy... and how wrong he is! I think he’s loveable.  _

Alph then stopped scrolling, staring at his phone. His chest tightened a bit again, thoughts rushing through his mind. 

He still loved him, didn’t he?

And yet, he made that stupid joke. It was a slip up, but... he still mentioned it. And Louie just laughed him off. And Louie... felt bad because of it, didn’t he?

Alph curled up a bit, ears leaning back now.  _ Stars, why would I do that? W-Why would I??? _

He hardly noticed his cat, Taco, jump up and lay down next to him. 

Tomorow night was... going to be rough. 

* * *

Louie laid down in his bed at the hotel, staring up at the ceiling. He grumbled a bit as he messed with his hoodie strings. 

“Hey son, what’s eating you up?”  Olimar offered as he looked up from a book. 

“I...” Louie sighed. “Nothing.”

“You know you can’t lie to me anymore.”  Olimar now sat up. “ Something’s bothering you. What is it?”

The underling leaned his ears back. He didn’t want to talk about what was wrong. 

After a moment,  Olimar sighed. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to... but I’ll be right here if you need me, okay?”

Louie just nodded. He... felt like such a dick. Alph had admitted something rather embarrassing and all he could do in response was laugh about his own problems. Gods, why was he like this?

Alph was clearly anxious about approaching him, and was such a nice person. Was also a lot more daring than Louie ever gave him credit  for. He... didn’t deserve that. He didn’t deserve being laughed at, even if crushing on him was a ridiculous idea. 

Besides, someone like Alph could do much better. 

He rolled over, grabbing onto a pillow.  _ Fuc _ k. He did not like that thought. Why did he not like it? His grip on the pillow tightened as it slowly dawned on him.  _ Fuck, no, I shouldn’t... I really shouldn’t... _

“Louie?”  Olimar asked again, now sounding worried. 

“...  Olimar , I....” Louie sighed. “I think... I’m in love.”

“Oh, Louie.”  Olimar chuckled lightly. “You two were talking and laughing quite a lot back there!”

Louie just made a groan noise. 

“Heh, sorry for teasing you... It’s what we dads do.”

“.... I think I messed it up already.”

Olimar’s tone changed. “Ah... I see. What makes you say that?”

“I laughed at something I shouldn’t have...”

“Ah, kid...”  Olimar got up from his own bed to sit at the edge of Louie’s. “I... don’t know exactly what happened. But... Alph is a nice kid. If you talk it out, I’m sure he’d forgive you. Just... be genuine. Okay?” 

Louie slowly nodded. 

“And... if things somehow don’t work out, you’ve got your old man here to support you! Okay?”

Louie chuckled a little. “Thanks, ‘Dad’.” 

Olimar pat his shoulder before slipping away to his own bed. Louie sighed as he curled up.  _ I hope it doesn’t come to that, though... _

* * *

Anxiety was eating away at Alph as he sat at the kitchen table. 

Olimar was again talking to the others as they all sat at Charlie’s house. Alph... wasn’t sure what he was hoping for, but was disappointed to see that yet again Louie had decided to sit away from the rest. He tried to listen in and respond when appropriate to  Olimar’s stories, but... anxiety and guilt just kept eating away at him. 

After only a little bit of time passed, Alph excused himself, getting up and heading for the living room. Louie looked up as he approached. 

“H-hey... can I sit with you again?”

Louie looked down. “Sure.”

Alph sat next to him, quiet for a long moment before he spoke. “I-I’m sorry... about... about that weird joke... yesterday...”

“What! No, no, don’t be. I’m... I’m sorry for laughing at you like that... I just... didn’t...”

“Didn’t think that  someone could... like you?”

Louie shook his head. 

Alph sighed. “I... It’s okay, Louie. It’s okay...”

“Thank you...”

They were quiet for a long while longer before Louie asked. “Were... were you telling the truth, though? Did, did you really...?”

“Yes. And... And I don’t...” Alph sighed. “I don’t think it really went away.” 

Louie seemed to freeze a bit. “You mean that you still... l-love...?”

“Yes.” Alph squeaked out. 

Louie stared at him for a moment before gently laying his hand on Alph’s. “I... I think that I... uh, I mean... would it be alright if t-tomorrow, we ah... hang out... get food...?”

Alph smiled softly, scooting a bit closer. “Yeah... of course.” He looked up at Louie. “I’d be happy to.”

Louie seemed to not really know how to respond. “O-Oh! That’s wonderful!”

Alph sighed and leaned against Louie a little. He’d be leaving back for  Hocotate the day after... this wouldn’t be easy, that’s for sure. But... Alph had a feeling everything would be okay. 


End file.
